Recorders – Record receivers and/or driving means therefor
Reexamination Certificate
1996-03-25
2001-07-17
Barlow, John (Department: 2853)
Recorders
Record receivers and/or driving means therefor
C347S260000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06262752
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording or reading apparatus. The present invention is suitable for the arrangement of an image recording apparatus for recording an image on, e.g., a sheet film, or an image reading apparatus for reading an image on a sheet film.
2. Related Background Art
As a conventional image recording apparatus for recording an image on a sheet film or an image reading apparatus for reading an image on a sheet film, various apparatuses are known.
FIGS. 1 and 2
are views showing the prior art of an image recording apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,151,713. Referring to
FIGS. 1 and 2
, a supply magazine
103
stores a large number of stacked unused sheet films, and its lid
103
a
can be opened inside the apparatus. A suction disk
105
enters the supply magazine
103
from the opening portion, and picks up, by suction, the stacked films one by one. The sucking disk
105
can insert the picked-up film to a position between a feed roller
107
and a planetary roller
108
located at a position b. The rollers
107
and
108
which clamp the film therebetween are integrally rotated clockwise to have the rotation shaft of the roller
107
as the center, and when the roller
108
reaches a position a, the planetary rotation of the roller
108
is stopped. The shaft of the roller
108
is fixed at this position, and the roller
107
is further rotated clockwise, thereby feeding the film in an obliquely upward direction along a guide plate
121
. When the leading end of the film is clamped between a feed roller
112
and a planetary roller
113
, which have been rotating in advance, the lower planetary roller
108
is retracted to a position c to release the film. The rollers
112
and
113
are integrally rotated clockwise to have the rotation shaft of the roller
112
as the center, and when the roller
113
reaches a position e, the planetary rotation of the roller
113
is stopped. The shaft of the roller
113
is fixed at this position, and the roller
112
is further rotated clockwise, thereby feeding the film until the trailing end of the film comes out from the supply magazine
103
. Thereafter, the roller
112
is rotated in the reverse direction to return the film to a position where the leading end of the film does not shield a light beam L.
If a recording operation is performed without executing the reverse feeding operation while the film is present in the supply magazine, the film initially has a shape indicated by m in FIG.
2
. However, when the trailing end of the film leaves a roller
118
, it immediately leaps to a position indicated by n. When the recording operation is performed in this state, scanning pitch nonuniformity is generated, thus deteriorating image quality. For this reason, the above-mentioned reverse feeding operation is performed.
Thereafter, the feed roller
112
is rotated clockwise again. When the leading end of the film is clamped between a pair of sub-scanning rollers
102
, the rotation of the roller
112
is stopped, and the planetary roller is retracted to a position f. A roller
138
whose shaft position is fixed is used for regulating the position of the film. Thereafter, the film is fed to the right in
FIG. 1
by the sub-scanning rollers
102
, and the recording operation is performed by deflecting and radiating the light beam L radiated from an optical unit
101
in a direction substantially perpendicular to the feed direction. After the recording operation, the rollers
102
are rotated in the reverse direction until the film end is clamped between the rollers
113
and
112
at the position e. Then, the rollers
113
and
112
are integrally rotated counterclockwise, and when the roller
113
reaches a position g, the planetary rotation of the roller
113
is stopped. The roller
112
is further rotated counterclockwise, and is stopped after the film is fed into a receive magazine
104
. When a lid
104
a
is closed inside the apparatus, the interior of the receive magazine is kept shielded from light. Thus, the receive magazine including the films can be unloaded from the apparatus, and can be conveyed to a developing machine.
FIG. 3
shows the prior art of a radiation image information reading apparatus described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 63-175570. Referring to
FIG. 3
, a sheet supply magazine
152
stores a plurality of stacked phosphorescent sheets
151
on each of which radiation image information is recorded. A sheet pickup means
153
such as a suction disk picks up the sheets one by one, and transfers the picked-up sheet to sub-scanning rollers
154
and
155
. A roller
157
is rotated by a motor (not shown), and can transmit its driving force to the roller
155
via a belt or chain
158
. The roller
154
and a roller
156
can respectively bias or be retracted from the rollers
155
and
157
by rotary solenoids (not shown). In addition, a guide plate
159
is arranged. The sheet
151
is scanned with excitation light
162
deflected and radiated by a main scanning means
161
while it is fed to the left in
FIG. 3
by the rollers
154
,
155
,
156
, and
157
. Stimulated emission is generated from a portion irradiated with the excitation light, and is detected by a photodetection means
160
. The fed sheet is stored in a sheet storage magazine
163
.
FIG. 4
shows the prior art of an original reading apparatus described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-60624. Referring to
FIG. 4
, non-processed originals
181
are stacked on a hopper
182
which is slightly inclined from the vertical direction. A negative pressure chamber
183
presses the lowermost one of the originals
181
against a paper feed roller
184
. When the paper feed roller
184
and an auxiliary paper feed roller
185
are rotated clockwise in
FIG. 4
, an original
181
is fed to a send roller
186
and a separation roller
187
. The original
181
which has passed between these rollers is conveyed between original guide plates
193
and
194
by a constant-speed feed roller
188
, a counter roller
189
, a back roller
190
, an exhaust roller
191
, and a pinch roller
192
, and is exhausted and stacked onto a stacker
195
. An illumination device
196
illuminates an original via an exposure opening portion
199
. Light reflected by the original is received by a reading element
198
via an imaging lens
197
.
The prior art shown in
FIG. 1
has the above-mentioned effect. However, after the entire sheet film is completely fed from the supply magazine and is fed in the reverse direction, scanning is performed, and the sheet film is reversed again to be returned to the receive magazine upon completion of an operation. For this reason, a space for repetitively returning the sheet film is required. Also, the operation time is prolonged, and it is disadvantageous to improve the throughput.
In the prior art shown in
FIG. 3
, since an almost linear feed path is adopted, the floor area corresponding to at least two magazines is required, and the apparatus becomes larger than the prior art shown in FIG.
1
.
In the prior art shown in
FIG. 4
, in order to pick up the lowermost sheet from the supply magazine, gravity is utilized. For this reason, the hopper must be inclined, and the size of the apparatus increases accordingly. Since the lowermost sheet is picked up from the supply magazine, the frictional resistance upon picking up of the sheet is large, and causes recording/reading pitch nonuniformity.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned prior arts, and has as its first object to provide a recording or reading apparatus which can greatly reduce the apparatus size by integrating the arrangement of magazines and the feed path.
Other objects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3897053 (1975-07-01), Guy
patent: 4013284 (1977-03-01), Demetre
patent: 4367948 (1983-01-01), Suzuki
patent: 4597516 (1986-07-01), May
Kudo Tomohiro
Matsumoto Kazuhiro
Ohkoda Keiji
Suzuki Ken'ichi
Barlow John
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
Fitzpatrick ,Cella, Harper & Scinto
Gordon Raquel Yvette
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